17 Hours On A Plane?

[Zacs-Master]

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/mar/23/first-non-stop-direct-flight-between-uk-and-australia-perth-london

Worth the avoidance of a two leg journey, or your idea of hell?

[Zacs-Master]

Doooogie, that’s where my stop off point is. Thanks! ;-)

[ummmm]

I've done 13 hours (maybe more) took some drugs and slept the whole way except for waking for food.

Long haul tends to have bigger planes so it's far more comfy, the food is included and there's more leg room.

[tamborine]

No thanx, give me the long stopovers in Singapore, Borneo & KL

[tiggerblue10]

I did a trip to Australia which consisted of a 7hr flight Heathrow to Boston, then a few hours to Detroit, then on to Osaka which was around 10hrs. From Osaka to Sydney was around 13hrs and by that time I felt like death warmed up. We were told not to walk around the plane unless we needed the toilet etc. We were sat towards the back of the plane and in front of the toilets and our seats wouldn't recline.

This was in 1993/4 so presumably before the risks of DVT were known about. Took me several days to recover from jet lag and other issues. It put me off long haul flights although I did do a 13hr flight to Dom Rep 17 years ago. I'm a bit scared of flying these days anyway so try to avoid going abroad.

[Cloverjo]

I thought there was already a non-stop flight between UK and Aus, just that it took 24 hours. OH and I were thinking of going last winter but couldn't agree on whether to get there in one flight or include a stopover. So we didn't go. 17 hours sounds bearable.

[Garaman]

Between the devil and the deep blue sea, but I would probably opt for the direct flight. Any such distance would have to be business class.

[jno]

Certainly ask about leg room before booking.

[whistonian]

"But way back then it took 42 days by boat to travel to the UK."
How for back was that Tilly,I was on the SS New Australia in 1957 it took 28 days.

[Cloverjo]

Business class is a must. I'd be having a panic attack before booking the flight if I thought I'd be crammed in economy for all those hours.

[jim360]

I am not sure that there was a longer non-stop flight than 17 hours. I think the 24 hour one clover was a "direct" flight, but for some reason "direct" with planes can mean "with a stop on the way".

[Cloverjo]

I see. Thanks, Jim.

[Hazi-Hammenuhoth]

Well worth it, count me in! No more hanging round Bangkok or Dubai airports has got to be a good thing.

[Hazi-Hammenuhoth]

As long as you or your partner are not obese, ie overlapping the seats, Emirates Economy is very comfortable. Spent Christmas in Oz a year ago and the flights were (almost) enjoyable!

[tiggerblue10]

Apologies - above was in wrong thread!!!!!!!!

[NoMercy]

//Author

Ouch! Why did you miss the flight?//

Mechanical problems in Boston. Flight left fairly late.

[Garaman]

//As long as you or your partner are not obese, ie overlapping the seats,.../

As long as whoever sits next to you isn't obese, which you might not know until you board. As long as you aren't sat near babies, or fidgeting brats. As long as you aren't sat next to a crowd determined to drink the plane dry. As long as...

[zebo]

We did New Zealand with a 1 hour stop in Singapore, roughly 12 and 11 hour flights, couldn't believe the lack of jet-lag, expected to be out cold for days!
Coming through Amsterdam is great, we would rather do Norwich-Amsterdam and onwards than trek down to Heathrow or Gatwick, factoring in the convenience, especially on the return it's quicker, no passport q's.

[New Judge]

I spent five very enjoyable years in the Air Training Corps. When I was about seventeen we spent a week at RAF St Mawgan – then a Coastal Command establishment - in Cornwall. Towards the end of our stay a yacht had gone missing in the Bristol Channel and one or two of the station’s Avro Shackletons were to be put up to look for it. Half a dozen ATC NCOs were “volunteered” (though we needed no encouragement) to fly in one of them as “extra eyes”. I was one of the volunteers and we spent around eight hours off the coast of Devon and Cornwall flying between 200 and 500 feet. The Shackleton was powered by four Rolls-Royce “Griffon” piston engines and the fuselage in which we travelled was devoid of any luxuries. The noise and vibration from the engines was appalling and at such a low altitude and speed the aircraft was constantly buffeted. A few bench seats were provided and an “Elsan” chemical toilet was at the back. There were a couple of bunks (the later Shackletons had a fifteen hour mission capability) on which we took turns to take a “rest” (sleep was impossible). Our food consisted of a box of sandwiches hastily prepared in the cookhouse and thrown aboard as we embarked. My ears were drumming for weeks afterwards (I swear I can still hear it today at times). We didn’t spot the yacht but it was found safe and sound later in the day after we had returned to base. After that a flight of any duration on a jet airliner, cruising seven miles up in warmth and comfort whilst being fed and watered is a walk in the park.

There have been a number of one-off ultra long haul passenger flights in recent years. The longest I can find is a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 777 which completed the world's longest non-stop passenger flight in November 2005. It travelled 13,423 miles eastward from Hong Kong to London-Heathrow in a little over 22 hours. Aboard were eight pilots and although the airplane seats 301, there were only 27 passengers aboard.

[Buenchico]

I've flown from Perth to Heathrow but obviously with stops on the way. Given the choice of the 17-hour flight that's now being proposed or the 26-hour journey I actually endured, I'd definitely opt for doing it in one go. (I can't sleep on any form of moving transport, so I had to get to the airport, check in, then go a further 26 hours without sleep before having to get across London to St Pancras in the morning rush hour, take a train to Sheffield and a taxi home. It was, to put it mildly, 'somewhat tiring'!)